Recently I've got sick and tired of the browser companies sticking their oar in, complaining that it's anti-competitive that Windows 7 being shipped with Internet Explorer. The shouts, loudest from Opera and Google, have forced Microsoft to take the rather drastic decision of offering to implement a ballot system in Europe. Under the new plans, rather than just get one browser when you install Windows 7, you'll have to choose which of the top-five browsers – IE8, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera – you want to install.
This seems stupid to me for several reasons. First, the kind of user that doesn't really know much about computers is going to either get confused about the choice or just choose Internet Explorer. Secondly, the user that knows what they're doing will either pick Firefox or Chrome, and then install IE8 anyway for those sites that require it. It seems unlikely that given a choice anyone would want Opera, anyway.
The bigger point is that why do we even care what Opera says, and why should people have the choice of this browser? Depending on which survey you believe, Opera currently has somewhere between 0.4 and one per cent of the browser market, making it significantly less popular than all of the other browsers in the ballot.
A similar argument could go for Safari, which currently enjoys around 8.5 per cent of the browser market – the large majority of this on Apple Macs. Why should we be offered this browser on PCs, then?
The problem with the current system is that it seems to reward browsers that PC owners generally don't care about, and the line for inclusion seems quite arbitrary leaving even smaller browsers out in the cold. So, I have a plan.
I'm going to take the source code for Firefox (it is open source, so I can do that) and just rewrite the titlebar, so that the browser's called DaveFox 3.5. I'm then going to complain to the EU that Microsoft's being anti-competitive for excluding DaveFox 3.5 from its ballot screen. I'd like everyone else to do the same thing and create their own browser. We'll then petition the EU until the ballot screen is thousands of pages of competing browsers and confusion; perhaps then some sense will be made of this whole affair and we can get Windows 7 with Internet Explorer installed, so it's nice and easy. Then, people that want a different browser can use IE8 to download the browser of their choice. A bit like today, really.
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7 comments:
Perhaps if people are offered such a clear opportunity to try alternative browsers, some will actually do so and discover their advantages - even or especially Opera's!
So Microsoft has done no harm to the browser industry? Then why was Firefox on Google life-support for years? Why is it that after a year Google's marketshare for Chrome is only slightly higher than Opera's, despite Google pushing it throughout their Web sites?
You're right. Bundling by a proven monopolist has no bearing on the browser market.
Eric, have you actually tried Chrome? I found it so feature lacking that it was disappointing to say the least, I actually think it deserves to be lower in the browser ranking than Opera (which I wouldn't dream of using on anything other than my phone). Much as you may not like it, IE (in my opinion) is better than either Opera or Chrome, but none of them come near to Firefox.
yeah as you say anyone who knows what they're doing will just download the browser they want. i think google and mozilla should get a better share of the browser market but by kicking up such a fuss they've done all this.
http://alexworld12.blogspot.com
Personall I detest IE in any of its manifestations. It is clunky and so much slower than FF.
Harken back to Netscape Navigator which was the Schitzes Nitses, then bought up by M$, who then unceremoniously canned it for all eternity. THAT particular action has some bearing on the EU ruling many years later. - Lest ye all forget !!
Thank you for your article
Thank you for your article
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